The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear next week a batch of pleas challenging the Karnataka High Court verdict refusing to lift the ban on hijab in educational institutions of the state.
A bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli took note of the submissions of lawyer Prashant Bhushan that the matters were filed long back but were yet to be listed for hearing.
“The girls are losing out on studies,” Bhushan said. The bench said, “It will be listed sometime next week".
Following month-long controversy over the Hijab row, the Karnataka High Court in March dismissed the petitions filed by a section of Muslim students from the Government Pre-University Girls College in Udupi. The students sought permission to wear Hijab inside the classroom.
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The controversy erupted into a row when girls were denied entry inside the college for wearing headscarves. The issue, soon, became a hotbed of communal conflict, when groups of saffron-clad men barged inside the campus protesting against the students. The protest soon spread across different parts of the state even as the government insists on a uniform code.
Pronouncing its verdict, the HC noted that the prescription of school uniform is only a reasonable restriction, constitutionally permissible which the students cannot object to, a three-judge bench of the court further noted.
(with PTI inputs)
